This is definitely for the brave, not me.
Not sure what I would do if we didn't have a dental school.
When I go there I am always surprised to find people who actually have insurance who still go there despite all the hassle.
I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
71–80 of 141 posts
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#72Awesome work! The animation definitely seems the most difficult (and subjective), but also the most cool! Body hacking via computed geometry! Invisalign (align technology) uses almost the same workflow. Market cap $5.89B. If you could move the workflow over to something based on WebGL / three.js - you could make this accessible to dentists in developing countries. Could be an awesome open source project. I think "all…
Invisalign seems to be mostly used for cosmetic fixes. That doesn't seem too compelling for a dentist in a developing country.
I live in a developing country. Most of the dentists here offer Invisalign.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#73This is cool but I can't say I agree with actually doing it. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, particularly in matters of health. If you don't have the requisite experience and knowledge and training, it seems risky to go about something like this on your own.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#74Orthodontics is a field known for its protectionism. It'd be pretty foolish but I wouldn't be surprised if you receive a cease and desist.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#75Direct leak into your gums..
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#76Not to be a downer, but was any thought given to the safety of the plastic(s) used? This is something that's in your mouth a lot and constantly exposed to saliva. The Dimension 1200es mentioned doesn't appear to be specific to medical applications.[0] The product page lists the only compatible thermoplastic being ABSplus-P430 . The MSDS for that basically says the stuff is dangerous in molten form, and beyond that th…
I used Keystone PROFORM .030" Retainer Material. Keystone is a dental supplier, so I trust the plastic is biologically inert.
Nice. The only other risk then would be interaction or contamination between the retainer material and the printed mold during the forming process (high heat), but that's probably grasping at straws.
The SDS for the retainer material in case anyone's interested:
http://dental.keystoneindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2016...
The toxicology section is entirely devoid of data, but I doubt that means anything since the product is purpose-built for dental use in the first place. Safety Data Sheets are more oriented towards immediate and occupational hazards anyways.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nope, no prior experience. It's quite easy, if you have an impression tray (I had to mock it up in 3d and print one). The instructions for alginate are right on the bag. The rest was just reading freely available docs on how to make castings.
Hey! Recent NJIT alumn - great to see something so creative like this come from my home turf. Really impressive work!
COAD?
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#78There is an important issue missing in the article (beyond the warning notice): the occlusion. The modification of the dental structure requires a whole functional analysis that goes beyond the teeth.
Anyway, the future is promising and the issues could be solved taking into account all the factors.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to wonder why people avoided dentists, but recently I cracked a molar and had to go to see a dentist. I was recommended a dentist in town, I showed up to a nice office full of nice people, they looked at my tooth and said they might be able to save it. So far, it was a pretty good experience. Then it got weird. They took me to a room with a business person who would discuss my "payment options and treatment pl…
Not to defend your particular dentist, but... > I asked if we could just do an extraction but they only responded with "Oh you don't want to do that!" (playfully) but legitimately not saying it was an option. I think dentists are culturally and by training pre-disposed to keeping your real teeth in your mouth. I've asked different dentists why and they get a hand-wavy, but they all say it's better if your real teeth…
It's because your jaw will change shape when there is a void an it can affect other teeth in the row. Also if you remove a tooth on the lower jaw, the corresponding tooth above on the upper jaw can start to travel downwards in the absence of a bite.
Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked
#80There is an important issue missing in the article (beyond the warning notice): the occlusion. The modification of the dental structure requires a whole functional analysis that goes beyond the teeth. Anyway, the future is promising and the issues could be solved taking into account all the factors.
Would you please elaborate more in layman's terms?